Relationship Matters

then I preached a great number of those passages. And so I suppose you could even consider the message this morning part of a long running series that we’ve done here at Providence.

Most of you are surely familiar with many of Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah. For example, in Isaiah 7, We have the mysterious prophecy, a virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and she will call his name Immanuel. There in that dynamic passage, Isaiah speaks of the virgin birth and the incarnation, God with us. In Isaiah chapter nine, Isaiah again speaks of a child, a son given to us, and that the government will rest on his shoulders. Divine sovereignty will prevail. One more of the many. Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah presents the figure of the Messiah by saying, here is your God, who will not only rule, as king and exercise judgment, but like a shepherd he will tend his flock.” Beautiful passage. All these and so many more speak prophetically of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.

There’s a special grouping of these messianic passages that begin in chapter 42, and because of their poetic nature, they are spoken of as songs. There are four of these songs in all, and the subject of all of them is the same. It’s the Messiah himself, who is characterized in these songs as God’s servant. Isaiah speaks of the Messiah as God’s servant nearly 20 times. And so these four passages are known as the servant songs.

If you would please turn to Isaiah chapter 42. I’ve had people guess, try to guess sometimes when I flip open my Bible exactly where I am. If you would turn to Isaiah chapter 42, it’s about just to the right of halfway in your Bibles. And then find your way to chapter 42. I want to take a brief tour of all four of these songs. Very brief tour.

Chapter 42, in the first servant song, Isaiah introduces the Messiah in the opening verse. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights, says God. I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. Isaiah proceeds to describe the Messiah’s relationships. His relationship to his father, his relationship to sinners, and ultimately his relationship to the world.

flip over, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 49. I told you that we would do a brief overview. In Isaiah chapter 49, the second of these beautiful songs, Isaiah speaks of the mission of God’s servant, together with the prophesied results. If you just glance at one verse, verse six, Is it too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel? I will also make you a light of the nation so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

There is a third servant song in the very next chapter, chapter 50. Here, God’s servant is seen as being perfected through his suffering. We know that the Lord Jesus was perfect when he came, but God had a purpose in the sufferings of Christ. Look at verse six and just think of how familiar this image is when we know what Christ suffered from the Gospels. I gave my back to those who strike me, and my cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting. For the Lord God helps me, therefore I am not disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. The evil treatment of the suffering servant during his passion is captured by all four of the gospel writers, where they capture Jesus being spit upon, slapped, and even punched with fists, and ultimately crucified. Even if you’re not familiar with the first three of those servant songs, you surely will recognize the fourth. It’s Isaiah 53, but it actually begins in Isaiah 52. It’s the larger and more well-known of the servant songs. And here, in Isaiah 52, 53, God’s servant indeed suffers. Ultimately, though, he is exalted.

This is how I’ve outlined it in times past. In Isaiah chapter 52, just glance at verse 13, where we see the servant’s astonishing reception. My servant will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. The second verse we see in Isaiah 53, one through three, the servant’s astounding rejection. Here he is, the Savior, the Messiah, and yet Isaiah says of him, he was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

The third statement, the servant’s amazing suffering, Not only his astonishing reception and astounding rejection, but amazing suffering. Look at verses four through six. Surely our griefs he himself bore, our sorrows he carried. He was pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. By his scourging, we are healed.

Fourth section there, the servant’s awful demise. In verses seven through nine, he was oppressed, afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, he did not open his mouth. And then the fifth and final section, the servant’s awesome sacrifice. The Lord was pleased to crush him. God was pleased to crush the Messiah, putting him to grief.

These are the servant songs, and for our purposes this morning, I’d like you to go back to chapter 42, the first of the servant songs. And here in the first of these four poetic tributes, Isaiah gives his readers a glimpse of the Messiah’s relationships. His relationship to his father, his relationship to sinners who are repentant, and his relationship to the unrepentant world.

I would tell you that for the most part, my college classes are one mundane blur. But one particular undergraduate class I remember well was a class called Business Communication. And it was the subtitle of that class that remains memorable to me to this day. The professor, a great guy, he asked a simple question. Who talks to whom? with what authority? And it’s an important and multifaceted question. I’ve seen the implication to the answers to that question come up over and over again over the years. Who talks to whom with what authority? In order for a business or an organization to function well, They need an organizational chart to make such associations clear. Who talks to whom with what authority? Without those defined standards, chaos and turmoil will eventually result.

Well, the Messiah didn’t exist independent of everyone else. He was in relationship to everyone. And he related to different individuals in different ways. Isaiah didn’t establish these standards, he’s merely reporting them. And he mentions three such connections. As I already said, the Messiah’s relationship to his heavenly father, the Messiah’s relationship to repentant sinners, and his relationship to the unrepentant world.

Let’s begin this morning, if you would, track back to verse one of chapter 42. where we begin to look at relationship matters, the implications, if you will, of the Messiah’s associations. And the first of these relationships is the Messiah’s relationship to the Father. Look at verse one. Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. What an introduction that is. God himself is presenting his servant, the Messiah, The servant, or what he further defines as the suffering servant in Isaiah 53, and we might think of a grander title for a savior than servant.

To introduce such a wonderful personage as the Messiah, to introduce him as a servant is somewhat disappointing to our ears. Because that term immediately speaks of lowliness and servitude, unimportance, even irrelevance. It has an almost demeaning connotation to it, doesn’t it? And it does so in any point of history, to call someone a servant. One of my first jobs as a kid was a busboy. And I had this manager that used to frequently remind me that a good busboy was to do his job so as to not even be noticed. We certainly weren’t supposed to interact with guests. Our job was, I discovered soon, to serve. And believe me, being a waiter later on, which they’re now called servers, it wasn’t much better. I was a servant. That’s what comes to my mind when I hear this term, servant. An unimportant person doing a necessary task.

But this is no ordinary servant. This servant is God’s agent in his plan of redemption. This servant, the Messiah, in his humility will not only wear the mantle of flesh, but he will embrace and own that title, servant. He will model servanthood. In Mark’s gospel, the very theme of that gospel is captured in chapter 10, verse 45. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. and to give his life as a ransom for many. And so, it is as this Messiah comes as a servant. And as such, God introduces him not so much as the servant of mankind, though he is that in his sacrifice, But Isaiah introduces him unmistakably as my, that is, God’s servant. And this is because he comes to accomplish God’s plan of redemption.

And as such, Isaiah continues, God upholds him. He is fully supported by his father. God exclaims this in this introduction. God equips him, supports him, endorses him, defends him, and keeps him.

amid all the challenges and difficulties that God incarnate must face, not only taking on flesh that he had created, but bearing the hatred of that same humanity and ultimately bearing up under the very wrath of Almighty God. God upholds him. God sustains him.

God himself further describes this servant as my chosen one in whom my soul delights. God exercised his sovereignty in the determination that this one should serve on his behalf. Almighty God has always expressed oversight of the affairs of men in this way with Abraham, with Moses, with Joseph, with David, and all the rest. God chooses. His servants.

From eternity past, God chose to use His Son according to accomplish His own plan. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, Peter tells us, 1 Peter 1.20. Christ’s mission was intricately part of God’s eternal purpose, says Paul in Ephesians 3. And the father was well pleased with his son’s acceptance of this mission, his taking on of human flesh, his sinless course of conduct on the earth, and ultimately his sacrifice for sinners.

Isaiah captures it this way. In him, my soul delights. God says that he takes great joy in his servant’s work, This sentiment was thundered again and again by God at Christ’s baptism and at His transfiguration. This is my Son with whom I am well pleased. The entirety of Christ’s ministry was just as God desired it. God delighted in Christ, His servant.

And of course, the Father upholds Him as such. He has chosen Him. God’s wonderful plan of redemption was no accident, especially as it pertained to his servant, the Messiah was ordained from eternity past.

And as a special mark of affirmation, Isaiah’s prophecy notes here where the father says he has put his spirit upon him. This is an echo of the messianic declaration given in Isaiah chapter 11, just listen. A shoot will spring up from the stem of Jesse, speaking of the Messiah, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 61 also opens with a declaration from the Messiah’s own lips. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners.

You might immediately recognize that that verse is the very verse which inaugurated Jesus’ ministry. Jesus himself read it. Luke 4, verse 16, he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, as was his custom. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the book and found the place where these very words were written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. When Jesus identifies with the prophet’s figure, he says that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him. He indicates that all of God’s grace and his gifts reside in him. Paul put it in Colossians 119 a little differently, it was the father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him, the fullness of deity. He goes on to say in chapter 2 verse 9, we have a Savior who has come in deity, God in human flesh, in perfect fullness.

In his humanity, He was overwhelmingly attended with the Spirit of God, more than just equipped to minister to the most difficult problem, the most distressing concern, the most troubling problem. He’s God here in the flesh. He’s the God who made each one of us. He’s intimately and more exceedingly acquainted with each one of us. than 10,000 earthly friends or counselors. The salvation of sinners is the work of the entire Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Well, and we well know now that we saw a literal and symbolic realization at Christ’s baptism where the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. That image stuck with John the Baptist I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven and he remained on him. It meant something to John. He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit. He knew that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.

And finally here in verse one, in his commissioning of his servant, our Savior. The Father forecasts the latter portion, in the latter portion of the declaration, he notes that he will bring forth justice to the nations. This is the great task of the Messiah, to bring righteousness to the world. What one writer described as the whole body of what God declares to be just and right, that’s righteousness. living as God would have us to live. So Isaiah 42.1 speaks of the Messiah’s relationship to the Father in heaven. But what about the Messiah’s relationship to repentant sinners? Would you turn to verse 2?

In our consideration of the implications of the Messiah’s associations, not only do we see his relationship with the Father, but we see his relationship to repentant sinners, you and I. Look at verse two. He will not cry or raise his voice, nor make his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. Enigmatic words to our ears.

By crying or raising his voice, verse two, God says that the Messiah, he will not be boisterous and defensive. He’s not going to dispute and wrangle even with his detractors. He would not be one to publicly argue and verbally fight with his foes. He was not out to win petty arguments. He is the one who, with a whisper, could have beckoned 12 legions of angels. But he would not be drawn into shouting matches with mere men. Others might scream and castigate him, but he would not respond in kind. And he not only withdrew, but even admonished his own followers. touched most deeply with the significance of his ministry not to promote him.

This is not because Christ did not believe in his mission or doubt his ability or wonder whether the Pharisees were indeed sinful. They were. But it was all due to his gentleness in the course of his ministry as Messiah. This describes our Savior, doesn’t it? While others vented their hatred and literally planned his murder, he, on the other hand, quietly withdrew until that foreordained moment by God himself in which he would be arrested, tried, and ultimately crucified.

This characteristic of gentleness is captured under the delicate language of verse 3. A bruised reed he will not break, a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. The gentleness of Christ has an infinitely practical side to it for the sinner. Here, our gentle Savior is pictured in his essence. Divine solemnity, an uncanny calm. And there are two images presented here, a bruised reed and a dimly burning wick.

The first image, that of a bruised or damaged reed, is simple. A reed was a common plant and an implement even in the ancient world, basically a stick. But a bent or damaged reed, a bent stick, was essentially worthless. No good. but to be cast aside and anew and discovered and employed. The image just speaks of something or someone that most would consider worthless, not Christ. The world runs roughshod over such downtrodden people. Jesus takes up the damaged reeds, whether bruised morally, or physically or spiritually, the helpless and the hurting of the world. In his gentleness, no one is insignificant. No one is beyond saving.

Likewise, the image of the dimly burning wick, here the image is of a flame that is so faint, so feeble, so delicate that the slightest puff of air would extinguish it. We know this illustration, especially this time of year, when candles are so plentifully employed, the dying flame begins to flicker, straining to survive, and it’s bothersome to our eyes to even watch. Such are those who languish under the weight of their own sin. They’re ready to expire. They’re ready to give up. These poor people are barely hanging on, barely surviving. They’re the battered and bruised, flickering lives in many ways, and for so many reasons, just existing. And God’s chosen servant, he not only does not brush them aside or snuff them out, He saves them.

Matthew chapter 11. Those incredible words of Christ, come to me. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Jesus, the Messiah, is the sinner’s greatest friend. He came and he took on human flesh that he himself had created. He came and he died for our sins while we were still enjoying those sins. And he showed mercy toward us by restoring peace Peace between us and a holy God. And even still he bears with our weakness in all gentleness.

Matthew’s account not only captures Jesus’ relationship with his father and his relationship to repentant sinners, as Isaiah prophesied, He also captured Christ’s relationship to the unrepentant world. Would you glance down at verses three and four, where we see thirdly his relationship to the unrepentant world. He will faithfully bring forth justice, the final line of verse three. He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established justice in the earth. And the coastlands will wait expectantly for his law.

The prophet speaks finally of the Messiah in order to present the Messiah’s God-given mission, is what he’s called to do. It’s the beneficial objective with which he’s tasked. The prophet makes three back-to-back statements here. Isaiah says that God’s commissioned servant will bring justice to the world. His efforts will not be thwarted. Justice will extend even to the remotest parts of the earth, the coastlands.

Here in these closing lines, Isaiah tells of the Messiah’s relationship to the unrepentant world. The Messiah will carry out justice, divine justice, for the whole world. What is it that this servant will accomplish? Look first at the end of verse three. He will faithfully bring forth justice. The father has commissioned him for this very purpose, his servant will be faithful to bring forth justice.

Now, if this means merely that the Messiah’s task is to execute divine justice, judgment in the world, no one can stand. Everyone is doomed. The Christ’s purpose was to fit those whom he called for judgment, to deal with the sentence against them by atoning for that sin himself. All sin will be punished. Divine justice will be meted out. And we will either pay for our sin ourselves or we will draw under Christ’s payment for that sin. Those in Christ have already had their day in court. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Jesus takes the sentence for that sin upon himself.

And his efforts in carrying out justice will not be impeded. God’s Messiah will not stop until he has accomplished his mission. And in order to do this, Isaiah says, he will not be disheartened or crushed. God’s servant will not be discouraged or dissuaded from accomplishing God’s redemptive plan. He will take on flesh, He will live a sinless life, He will die a criminal’s death, and in doing so, He will establish justice. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, Scripture says.

No wonder the capstone of this verse declares so hopeful a thought. The coastlands will wait expectantly for his law. The whole world struggles and stumbles along an abject hopelessness. This world is languishing under sin. And the world knows it. Often they don’t even know that for which they wait. They know there’s a God. They know that there must be something better. They know that there must be a God, that he must have some kind of divine purpose for this world. There is. And as Paul would say it, An anxious longing exists in God’s creation, and so the world longs, it yearns, it waits for divine redemption. The coastlands wait.

But they also know that unless God should move, it’ll be forever, so God has moved. He’s commissioned his servant. And because he’s commissioned his servant, his nature and his mission, there’s hope. And just as Jesus would go on to promise his beloved disciples that his ascension into heaven, the witness of the gospel will eventually reach to the remotest part of the world. Here Isaiah describes it as coastlands. A Hebraism for distant lands or nations. This servant, this Messiah is not the savior of a people. He’s the savior of any and all. All people. He’s not only the, not every soul, mind you, but every nation of mankind. They will hope for His law or His rule as they never before have. Throughout most of their pitiful lives, they didn’t even know that they so desperately needed a Savior. That’s one of the first beautiful marks of the Holy Spirit’s work in a person, is their recognition of their need of a Savior. Their hatred for sin, their own sin, but in hearing of Him. In hearing of Christ, the Redeemer, they receive Him most eagerly. Did we not? They turn from sin to the Messiah in faith. They love and obey Him as their beloved friend.

It’s beyond interesting. that so-called scholars have stammered and hedged on the precise identity of God’s servant. Not only in this chapter, but in all of the chapters. Throughout the centuries, many have proposed that perhaps Isaiah is referring to an earthly figure like King Cyrus. He was a popular target. If only we had proof that would dispel such foolish notions. We do. In God’s providence, we not only have these wonderful promises in Isaiah, which can be received even as we read them, but we have proof of their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, because this verse is cited in full in Matthew’s gospel.

Would God’s people turn please to Matthew chapter 12, In Matthew chapter 12, whose writing is fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, he tells us that the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah came from the Messiah himself. And it fits Jesus Christ infinitely better than it does a heathen King Cyrus. No mere man, not even one of God’s prophets, could measure up to the standards expressed in these verses.

here in Matthew’s Gospel, he has only just recently recorded Jesus in Galilee healing a man’s withered hand, a miracle that only God could effect, but he did it on the Sabbath. And that produced a sadly expected challenge by the Pharisees. They literally want to destroy him. And as a result, Jesus conducts a kind of moving healing ministry, going from place to place.

Matthew not only records Jesus quietly withdrawing, but he quotes Isaiah 42. Verses one through four, would you glance at verse 15? Matthew 12, verse 15, but Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed him and he healed them all and warned them not to tell who he was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet.

Behold my servant. whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

It’s just as Isaiah prophesied. Jesus is powerfully serving, ministering to all, and God is upholding him even against the venomous hatred of the Jewish leaders. In his citation of this prophecy, Matthew identifies and declares Jesus as the Messiah of Isaiah 42. Not only does this citation of Isaiah emphasize Christ’s relationship with his Father, his relationship with unrepentant sinners, it also sets forth his relationship with the hateful world.

The context here in this passage in which Matthew quotes Isaiah, it’s crucial. The religious leaders are persecuting Christ. They’re harassing him. They’re plotting against him to take his life. But rather than reacting or powerfully rebuking these hateful Pharisees, Matthew records that Jesus just humbly withdrew He will not cry out or raise his voice. You see, their persecution changed nothing in Christ’s plans. He keeps right on healing, even on the Sabbath, and not just occasionally, one here, one there, but the masses. As Matthew describes, many followed him and he healed them all. Just amazing.

Christ came for such. He came for sinners like you and I. He came for the hurting. He came for the lost. He came for the burdened. He came for the dying, the guilty, the sick. The very context in Matthew was the healing of the man with the withered hand. Jesus exemplified a gentle concern for the weak and the downtrodden of the world. whether the sinful woman who would eventually worship at Jesus’ feet, the countless men and women who suffered from physical maladies, the man born blind, the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, lepers, issues of blood, all of them. Jesus would not break a bruised reed. Jesus would not extinguish a dimly burning wick.

Lastly, the assured judgment of Isaiah 42 is also upheld. Jesus does not exonerate his hateful opponents. Jesus knows their plans and he defers to the distribution of justice to another day. In the meantime, he will care for the needy. He will care for the hurting and the downtrodden and the brokenhearted. His miracles were performed as a mercy to those in desperate need. He will bear long. He will bear long with the sins of the unbelieving world. As the Apostle Peter has it in the closing words of his second letter, the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

Would you humble yourself before this servant? Our Lord Jesus Christ, we come before you humbled at the reminder of who you are as detailed in this servant song of Isaiah. Lord God, we bow before you and thank you for your mercy towards us. Lord, we see so much of you as you have revealed yourself to us, even from that very opening verse, that you are the one whom God has sent as Savior into the world. You willingly came at God’s demand. Lord, we know that God’s spirit is upon you. We know that you have moved in our hearts and brought us to repentance.

Lord, we thank you for your gentleness, even in our own lives. We were ready to expire. We were done with life in so many different ways, for so many different reasons. You had mercy on us. and you drew us to yourself. Father, we thank you. Those of us who know you know that our sin is forgiven because of what you accomplished on the cross. Lord, we can never fully express our gratitude, but we humbly say thank you.

Lord, for those who do not know our Lord Jesus, They must know, they must hear, justice is coming. God will deal with sin, every sin. And we either should look to Christ, who is already paid for sin, or we will pay ourselves. And so we plead with you that you would have your way with any in this room who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. that you would bring them to humble submission to Christ, that they would look to Him and to Him only for salvation. Father, we plead with you that your will would be done and that you would be glorified in saving souls even this very day. We thank you and we praise you. It’s in Jesus’ name that we ask.